How to socialise a dog after a lockdown
– Royal Canin If you’ve been self-isolating or unable to leave the house as much as you’d like to during a lockdown, you may need to spend extra time re-socialising your dog or puppy as normal life begins to resume again. During the pandemic, people will have been staying at home for longer periods than usual. As a result, some people may have decided to purchase or adopt a puppy or dog. While all that extra time together can help strengthen the bond you share and make training simpler, it does mean there could be fewer opportunities for exploring and experiencing the world outside. Similarly, dogs that were previously socialised may find situations have changed during the lockdown – encountering more joggers and cyclists on their walks, for example. Dogs will also
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DOG WORLD January 2021
likely be aware of people wearing a mask, which considerably changes the visual signs they often use to recognise expressed emotions. That’s why, as normal life begins to resume, you should try to familiarise or reintroduce them to different experiences through dog socialisation and familiarisation training.
Why is dog socialisation important? Socialisation is a process of learning in which your puppy is introduced to the world. Any new experience you share with them is part of this socialisation and contributes to their ability to master communication. It could be meeting a new person or another dog, getting in a car, hearing a hairdryer, or just going to a new location. “Appropriate socialisation helps them to relax and enjoy life, equips them with the resilience to cope well with the huge variety of experiences
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